[Windows] Trying to build my box using Eskro's build and post

So couple of follow up questions:

1. Why E5700 rather than Celeron? I am replacing my main PC's CPU - Core2 Duo E6750 with i7-2600k. Would it make sense to use the Core2 Duo or is it too power hungry?

2. What do you recommend for Remote besides Rii Mini Wireless Keyboard with Touchpad (RT-MWK01)?

3. Any suggestions for RAM? I will be running Windows 7 x64 Ultimate.

4. For SSD, I was thinking of OCZ Agility 2 or OCZ Vertex 2. Any preference between the two or are they overkill?

Hey Eskro,
I noticed that the mobo you suggested does not have any USB 3.0. I did find 2 LGA 775 mobo at Newegg: Biostar and GigaByte

Both CELERON & PENTiUM are 65w...
i Just think that for $16 more than a CELERON,
you gain noticeable CPU Power!

celeron e3400 Average CPU Mark: 1730
pentium e5700 Average CPU Mark: 2043

About USB3, many of us dont think its really needed...
Many stream from NAS' or from Local Storage....
USB2.0 is even fast enough for 1080P....

that biostar & gigabyte mobo your referring to doesnt have PCI-Express 2.0 x 16...
the GT210 card will still work correctly on PCI-Express x 16 but
if you thinking in futur GPU upgrade, it'll be difficult...

Now for remotes, you know i have 2...
i use the Rii Mini to control XBMC & to type text in my browser' search engine....
its also great for renaming files on my hTPC and just casual lite-typing stuff...
i can now even chat with it since i got the hang of it now
i type pretty fast now...

However, you can indeed control the whole web with it, if you want,
track pad is like a laptop one, but the GYRATION AIR GO PLUS is a must for me!!
its works so so great i mean, web browsing is now lightning fast!!

Example, if you wanna copy a phrase and do a google search of it?
good luck with the rii mini, highlighting a phrase is not easy
but with Gyration Air Mouse, man, its perfect an Fast!!

im Not saying u absolutely need the Air Mouse, but i do
i just cant imagine myself doing all i do right now using the rii mini track pad...
I really need a ScroLL Wheel button for web browsing, cant live without that!!
and also for doing stuff on my c drive, where my OS is, moving stuff from my desktop
to anywhere else i want is super easy with the Air Mouse..

So for me, the Rii Mini is perfect for controlling XBMC & like i said,
its great also for typing text in search engines....

hope this helps

Thanks. That helps a lot. Any choices on the SSD? I may start out with Rii and see how it goes. Then add the Air Mouse or another remote. Lot of people talk about Harmony but it is freaking expensive (unless I am missing something really obvious).

For SSD, I was thinking of OCZ Agility 2 or OCZ Vertex 2. Any preference between the two or are they overkill?

That should be the last of it, I swear

oh no dont worry, you can ask me stuff, i like to help

you'll see, rii mini controls XBMC like a CHamp!

those harmony remotes are indeed popular because they can control
all of your home theater equipment on that single remote!
so no more 3 or 4 remotes laying around on the table,,,
1 rules all...

now the SSD's.... win7 needs minimum 30GB... 16GB is wayy to short...
like suggested in my startup guide, any of these are great!
just choose one according to your budget...
check the read and write speeds too..
[SSD: 30GB] Kingston SSDNow 2.5" SATAII Trim Read:180MB/s Write:50MB/s ($76 + $0 - $20 rebate)
[SSD: 32GB] Corsair Nova 2.5" SATAII Trim Read:195MB/s Write:70MB/s ($65 + $0)
[SSD: 40GB] G.SKILL Phoenix Pro 2.5" SATAII Trim Read:280MB/s Write:270MB/s ($110 + $0)
[SSD: 60GB] Corsair Force 2.5" SATAII Trim Read:280MB/s Write:270MB/s ($125 + $0)

Cool thanks. Wife is going out of town next week so I can start ordering stuff.

BTW, in another post, Choque asked you about media manager. I want to organize my media library. Right now, it is organized as follows:

\TV_Shared\
--- \Movies\
------\English\
---------\Movie Title (xxxx)\
--------- MovieName.mkv
--------- folder.jpg --> does XBMC download / populate this?
--------- fanart.jpg --> does XBMC download / populate this?
--------- movie-trailer.avi --> does XBMC download / populate this?
------ \Spanish\
---------\Movie Title (xxxx)\
--------- MovieName.mkv
--- \Music\ (empty for now. don't know how to organize it)
--- \Music Videos\
------ Music Video 1.avi
------ Music Video 2.avi
------ Music Video 3.avi...
--- \Pictures\
------ \Vacations\
--------- \2004\
------------\Amsterdam\
--------------- \picture01.jpg
--------------- \picture21.jpg...
--- \TV Shows\
------ \Chuck\
--------- Chuck s01.e01.avi
--------- Chuck s01.e02.avi
------ \Stargate\
--------- Stargate s01e01.avi

Lot of this is a very manual process. Is there a better way of doing this or automating it? I looked at the Media Companion and Media Info Plus but I am not sure if they are still being actively developed. Any suggestions?

i organize movies this way:

D:\MOVIES\Star Wars - A New Hope (1977)\Star Wars - A New Hope (1977).mkv
D:\MOVIES\Star Wars - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)\Star Wars - The Empire Strikes Back (1980).mkv

So each movie has its own folder...
its better this way trust me...
always put the movie's year like i did...
then let the Scraper download the movie infos for you....
those info will be stored on XBMC's movie database....

So why those fanart.jpg and folder.jpg and .NFO files?
because some users, like me, like to have the movies infos stored in
their respective folders... and doing so, it free's up disk space too
since infos and images will be on stored on your media drive and not OS drive...

Theres applications that can create all those files for you automatically,,,
i use one called XBMC NFO EDiTOR...
this app can scan my library and list all the movies i have...
and then all is left to do in order to make the app create those files for me,
is to double-click on a movie thats in list, and then click SAVE!
after doing so, when i go to a movie folder, i'll see all those files in it
along of course with the movie file too!!

but that application can only handle movies for now....
for TV SHOWS theres a similar application called 'Ember Media Manager'..
this will do the same thing as i described you....
but the app looks different of course
so for TV SHOWS, organize this way, works great:

D:\TV SHOWS\X-MEN - Animated (1985)\Season 01\S01E01.episode name.mkv
--------------------------------------------------\S01E02.episode name.mkv
-------------------------------------------------- \S01E03.episode name.mkv

D:\TV SHOWS\X-MEN - Animated (1985)\Season 02\S02E01.episode name.mkv
--------------------------------------------------\S02E02.episode name.mkv
-------------------------------------------------- \S02E03.episode name.mkv

D:\TV SHOWS\X-MEN - Animated (1985)\Season 03\S03E01.episode name.mkv
--------------------------------------------------\S03E02.episode name.mkv
-------------------------------------------------- \S03E03.episode name.mkv



hope this helps

You, my friend, are awesome. Thanks for all your help. Time to place the order. Guess I will start playing with Live to get familiar with the interface. Don't think I can wait for the parts to arrive

no problem!